EMV Chip-and-Pin a Go at PSCU Financial Services

PSCU Financial Services is joining in the EMV wave, rolling out new credit cards that carry both EMV chip-and-PIN security and traditional magnetic stripes.

The new cards are available to all 680 of the big CUSO’s member-owner credit unions but are focused at U.S. credit unions that have large overseas membership, including PSCU’s development partner in project, Andrews FCU in Suitland, Md.

The $815 million Andrews FCU has 13 branches, including six in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands where the new cards will initially be offered, the credit union said. Its 93,000 members are primarily in military and military-related civilian jobs.

The new GlobeTrek Visa Rewards credit card will offer the same rate and rewards as the CU’s current platinum card, the company said, but will combine an EMV chip with PIN authentication to make them usable at unattended kiosks and ATMs as well as POS locations.

“Offering EMV cards with PIN approval allows credit unions to compete effectively with large international banks. This card is a significant advantage for our credit unions that serve government, military or professional members who travel internationally,” said Michael Kelly, president/CEO at PSCU in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“Our members stationed overseas and those who travel frequently have been asking for this,” said Chris McDonald, president/CEO at Andrews FCU. “Our credit union is excited to offer a card that employs both the dominant payment technologies.”

EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) is a European security standard for contact and contactless payment that got a serious boost this week when Visa Inc. announced it would be pushing adoption in the U.S.

The $3.1 billion United Nations FCU already is offering the cards to its international membership, with about 6,000 members using them via technology from Dutch security vendor Gemalto.

Jack Henry & Associates’ payments division, meanwhile, is working on deploying chip-and-PIN cards, too, working with the $5.6 billion Star One CU in Sunnyvale, Calif., as its beta tester.